Males, in their costume, were the birds of gay plumage at the beginning of the sixteenth century. So fantastically clad was the English nobleman in his laced doublet and open gown, that he was scarcely to be distinguished from a woman. In the time of Charles V. courtiers dressed in bright colors, but with his sombre son Philip, all was black—black velvet trimmed with jet; and stiff—stiff collars, and stiff black truncated cone hats, with brim scarcely an inch wide, in place of the soft slouchy _sombrero_. [Sidenote: THE MANTILLA AND CAPA.] The national and characteristic garment of both sexes in Spain for about three centuries was, for the outer covering, the _capa_, or cloak, of the cavalier, and the _mantilla_ of the lady. In the reign of Charles V. the former was a short cape, and the latter simply a head-dress; but with time both enlarged until one reached below the knee, and the other below the waist. Some writers give to these garments a remote antiquity. They point to ancient coins where Iberia is represented as a veiled woman, and ignoring sex claim that to the Iberians the Romans gave the _toga_, and that for fifteen centuries the fashion continued. Others deny such connection. It is undoubtedly true that the capa of the sixteenth century was much shorter than the cloak of to-day, being a cape rather than a cloak, and not at all resembling the Roman toga. Sebastian Franc in his _Weltbuch_, Tübingen, 1534, writes: "Their women wear a curious dress around the neck; they have an iron band to which are fastened bent prongs reaching over the head, over which, when they desire it, they draw a cloth for the protection of the head, and this they hold to be a great ornament." To the men and women of Spain this garment is as the shell to the turtle; within it, though on a crowded thoroughfare, they may at any moment retire from the world, and ensconce themselves within themselves. The cavalier with a peculiar fling, utterly unattainable by a foreigner, throws the skirt over the breast and shoulder so as to partially or completely hide the face according to his pleasure. On the way to and from church the lady's face is covered; and the gallant sighing for a glimpse of features divinely fair, is obliged to enter the sanctuary, hide behind a column near the altar; then as one female after another approaches, kneels, and unveils, he may feast his eyes on the faces before him. The mantilla serves as a bonnet, veil, and shawl; formerly it was but an oblong piece of cloth, with velvet or lace border; later a lace veil was added as part of it; and now the Spanish female face is becoming more and more visible in public.